


Tony, Please

by FestiveFerret



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Mutual Pining, Personal Trainer Steve, Pining, Romance, Some feels, single parent steve rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 17:09:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14815433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FestiveFerret/pseuds/FestiveFerret
Summary: Steve is doing just fine nursing a painful crush on his most captivating client. That is, until his babysitter has an emergency and drops Steve's six-year-old daughter off at his work. Somehow, everything goes off the rails.





	Tony, Please

**Author's Note:**

> This is for my MCU bingo square "Pining"

Steve leaned over the handrail of the treadmill and waved at the man jogging on it. "Mr. Stark. Welcome back."

Tony smiled, that cheeky, teasing smile that never failed to make Steve feel like they shared some special secret. "Tony," he said for probably the six-hundredth time, "please." 

Steve nodded, smiling back, knowing that Tony knew it would always be Mr. Stark out loud. But Tony didn't know why. He could never know why. "How was your vacation?"

Tony turned the treadmill off and hopped down, using his towel to wipe the sweat off his brow.

"Well, my phone only went off every two hours instead of every two minutes with something absolutely urgent, so one of the better ones I've ever had."

Steve shook his head, leading Tony over to the mats. "You work too hard," he said gently, and Tony shot him another heart-stopping smile.

"That's why I come here, Steve. So you can take the edge off me. Get me to let off a little steam. I still disapprove of your no phones policy, but I must admit, it's a nice excuse to go AWOL for a few hours a week." 

Steve gently urged Tony into position on the mats, and they fell into their workout routine easily. Tony talked, he always talked through the entire thing, and with any other client, it would have bothered Steve. But with Tony, it didn't, for two reasons. One was that Tony clearly needed to talk. He was a certified genius, with a brain that ran a mile a minute on several tracks, and the only way he could focus on his form was to occupy one of those tracks with an endless stream of babble. Steve usually didn't understand a word of it, but he hummed and nodded and chuckled at what felt like the right points, while gently correcting Tony's position and form with his fingers. Tony gave easily under his hands, shifting with the soft guides, melting back into the perfect foundation.

Which came around to the second reason: Steve adored hearing Tony talk. It didn't matter that most of it was over his head technically or about people he'd never met and never would meet. Tony's voice was soft and low and full of such feeling that Steve's heart stuttered to hear it. He clung to those monologues, drowning in them, a little piece of Tony he got to have, twice weekly, for two hours. 

It wasn't enough.

But it had to be enough, because Tony was his client and Steve was a professional. And besides, Tony flirted like he breathed, but he was way, way,  _ way  _ out of Steve's league so it hardly mattered.

"Okay, let's move on to weights," Steve said, interrupting Tony's stream of consciousness. 

Tony threw up a hand, and Steve took it, pulling him to his feet. Steve tensed his abs to steady them both but it meant he stayed rock solid instead of stepping back, and that brought Tony right against his chest. He swallowed, trying not to blush, but Tony merely smiled, that same just-for-them smile that he couldn't possibly know had the effect on Steve that it did, and set off for the weight bench.

Steve turned his eyes to the strips of fluorescent lights in the gym ceiling and prayed to the gods of free weights to get him through one more session without embarrassing himself. 

Of course, fate was never that kind.

"Daddy!"

Steve spun around, nearly losing his balance and tripping into the basket of therapy bands. "Abby?" His little girl dragged her babysitter across the gym, dodging equipment, bouncing at the end of Darcy's arm like a dog on a leash headed for the park. Darcy leaned away from the pull, holding her back as they tore across the gym.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Rogers," Darcy started saying before they were even halfway across the gym. "Only, the hospital called and my grandmother fell and I'm the only grandkid close enough to go be with her. She broke her ankle and needs surgery and stuff and it's such a mess, you would  _ not  _ believe. But you know what my mom is like so whatever. But everyone's in New Mexico except her and me, so I have to be the one to, you know, do the hand holding stuff, and it didn't seem fair to drag Abby to the hospital. And then how would she get home anyway? So, I figured it'd be okay if I after I picked her up from science camp I brought her here. I'm really sorry, I know it mucks up your day and you probably have the bike and everything but I didn't know what else to do -"

Steve held up a hand to cut her off, bending down to allow Abby to fling herself into his arms. "One second, Darce."

She nodded, then looked around Steve towards Tony. She waved, and he waved back. "Sorry."

Steve turned to Tony too. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Stark -"

"Tony."

"- just give me one minute." Steve hustled Darcy and Abby away towards the mirror along the far wall. "It's okay, Darcy, I understand," he said, before she could start explaining again. "I'll - uh - I'll sort it out. Thank you for bringing Abby here. You go on to your grandmother. Tell her I hope she feels better soon."

"Thank you, Mr. Rogers. Thank you so much!" She threw her arms around his neck and planted an embarrassingly smacking kiss to his cheek then flew out of the gym. Steve was left staring at his daughter, painfully aware of his favourite client watching them from the other side of the gym.

Steve crouched down and took Abby's wrists in his hands. "Okay, sweetheart. Darcy had to go home early, but Daddy still has a client left to work with. So, he needs you to sit quietly and wait for one hour and then he'll take you home, okay?" Steve frowned at the thought. He took the bike to work, but he couldn't take Abby on it. Even if he was willing to - which he wasn't - he didn't have a helmet here for her. A cab would be cripplingly expensive from here so they'd have to take the subway, which would take ages. And Darcy hadn't brought any of Abby's toys which meant she had a hour of being bored here and then another hour being bored on the subway. It wasn't shaping up to be a very nice day, which sucked, especially because Steve had been looking forward to it so much. 

He heard the pop of a water bottle from the other side of the room and was reminded exactly why it was supposed to be such a nice day. Steve resisted the urge to bang his head on the bench next to Abby.

"Okay, Daddy," Abby said, in the bright, six-year-old tone that suggested she intended to do the exact opposite of what he'd asked. "But can I meet _ him  _ first?" She pointed her finger in Tony's direction. "I want to ask him something."

"That's Daddy's client, honey. I have to work with him while you sit quietly."

"But I have something very  _ very  _ important to ask him."

Steve sighed. Tony was a good sport. This experience would definitely erode any lingering possibility that Tony might be interested in him - not to date, that had never been an option, but Steve had entertained the occasional fleeting fantasy that Tony maybe wanted to shove his very fit, occasionally attractively sweaty, personal trainer into the exercise ball cabinet and demonstrate how much muscle mass he'd gained through their sessions. But there was nothing like having Steve's six-year-old daughter show up and talk his ear off to squash the potential for any bodice-ripper-like daydreaming on Tony's part.

"Alright. One question."

Abby flung herself across the gym then stopped short in front of Tony, suddenly shy. Tony looked up at Steve with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Stark -"

"Tony."

"- my babysitter had a family emergency and had to leave early. Abby just wanted to meet you but then -" he slipped into his  _ without-question-Daddy-authority  _ voice "- she's going to sit quietly and wait until we finish."

Tony chuckled then crouched down to be on Abby's level. He peered at her with intense scrutiny, and she wrinkled her nose back. "I'm Mr. Stark," he said, overly formally. "And you must be Ms. Rogers."

Abby burst into giggles. "No! I'm Aaaaaaaaaaabby." She dragged the middle out as long as she could.

"Of course you are," Tony said. "I'm Tony." He shook her hand.

"I have to ask you something -" she leaned in conspiratorially "- very  _ very  _ important."

"Go for it," Tony said.

"Which is your favourite Transformer?" she stage-whispered.

Tony leaned back on his heels as if he were thinking about it. "Wheeljack. No question. He's an engineer and a Delorean. Top that."

Abby shook her head. "I like Bumblebee."

Tony sighed. "You would. Well, you're young. You've got time to come around."

"Abby, that's enough. Daddy has to finish his work," Steve broke in. Abby whined, grabbing Steve's hand and swinging around his body until he walked her over to the bench and set her down. She pouted, but he ignored it.

He joined Tony again by the weights. "God, I'm so sorry. Thank you for putting up with her. This is so unprofessional of me."

Tony rested a hand on Steve's shoulder, and Steve tried not to squeak. "Hey, hey, don't worry about it. You don't know anything about unprofessional. I went to a quarterly board meeting in unicorn pajama pants once. With a raging hangover. Also they weren't my pants. Top that." Steve snorted, and Tony smiled. "Mm, got a laugh. Nice."

"Thank you, really, Mr. Stark -"

"Tony."

"- for being so understanding. I think she'll be alright. Shall we move on to shoulder presses?"

But Tony's eyes flickered past Steve and settled on Abby. Steve turned, worried she was causing mischief already, but she was just slumped all the way down on the bench, legs kicked way out in front of her, staring listlessly at the bank of treadmills. "How many more clients do you have today?" Tony asked.

"You're my last."

Tony waved a hand at the gym equipment Steve was moving towards. "Let's finish early then."

"Oh no, no I can't -"

"Pff, come on, Steve. Skive off for a day. Let me give you two a ride home."

"Mr. Stark -"

"Tony, please." He stepped closer to Steve, dropping his voice low. "Come on. Every week, twice a week, I come in here and babble ceaselessly at you and you put up with me. Let me get you back, alright? You've never even called in sick - how do you manage that with a kid? Her mom usually home with her?"

Steve opened his mouth then closed it. "Ah. No. It's just us. She - her - she's adopted? She's actually my distant cousin. Her parents died, and I took her in when she was a baby. It's just us."  _ And no one wants us,  _ Steve failed to tack on the end. But he felt the familiar ache in his chest.

"Wow."  

"But I take my job very seriously, and I don't want you to think -"

Tony held up a finger, cutting Steve off. "I know you do, Steve. I know this was out of your control. It's fine. I'm not saying we should stop because I'm uncomfortable or because I mind your kid being here. It's just silly, when we can easily reschedule and you're having a bit of a family crisis. Tell me she's not going to be out of her mind bored for the next hour."

Steve sighed. "Yeah.. she will."

"Then let me give you a ride home. You came on the bike, right?"

"Uh, yeah, how do you -?"

"I definitely do not pause my warmup to watch you pull up out the window on the days I'm your first client."

"You - what?" But Tony didn't give Steve time to answer. He bustled around collecting his things.

"Come on, Steve."

"Um. Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Abigail Rogers!" Tony said, beckoning her over. She sprung to her feet and galloped across the room. "Is that what your name is short for?"

She nodded.

"Abigail Rogers, have you ever ridden in a limo before?"

Abby's eyes went wide.

**

Steve vibrated silently in his seat, aching with the pain of watching Tony interact with Abby, but unable to look away. The two of them sat on the short, back bench seat of the limo while Steve sat along the side. Tony had emptied an entire toolkit he apparently kept in the truck of his limo all over the seat between them and was talking Abby through each item, explaining its use. Traffic was horrific, and Steve wasn't surprised that they were barely crawling along, but Tony didn't seem to mind. 

"What's this?!" Abby held up a small jeweler's screwdriver. 

Tony peered at it curiously. "What does it look like?"

"Ummm." Abby turned it back and forth. "It looks like - uh - a pliers -" Steve smiled to himself; the last tool Tony had explained had been a pair of pliers "- for - um - a troll. With tiny hands."

"Wow, you're so close!" Tony said. He leaned in like it was a secret, and Abby's eyes went wide. "It is for small hands, but not a troll." He took one of Abby's hands and held it up, examining it in the light. "I think, hmmm, about this small!" 

Abby's mouth fell open and Tony handed her the screwdriver like it was an Oscar. "Can I keep it?!"

"Abby, don't -" Steve started but Tony cut him off.

"Of course you can. As long as you promise to be careful with it."

"I will!" Abby scrambled off the seat and made her way over to Steve instead. "Daddy did you see what I got? It's a troll plier for small hands like mine!"

"That's amazing, sweetheart. Did you thank Mr. Stark?"

"Thank you!" Abby crawled up his legs, mouth still going a mile a minute. Her knee caught Steve in a rather sensitive location, and he flinched, catching Tony's sympathy wince as he hauled Abby into a more comfortable position on his lap. She fell silent for a moment, then she delivered her second hard hit of the day in the form of turning to Tony and saying, "My daddy talks about you all the time."

Tony's eyebrows shot for the ceiling while Steve's skin ignited. He froze, caught between trying to laugh it off and scolding Abby, but either way, there was no taking it back. And it wasn't like she was lying.

"Does he?" Tony said.

"Yeah. He gets a big -" she stuck her fingers in her mouth and stretched it wide in a mockery of a smile "- on the days when MISTER STARK is coming to the gym." Steve winced as she yelled his name.

But when he braved a glance at Tony, he was smiling. "Does he now….?"

The limo finally pulled up in front of their apartment building, and Abby rocketed out as soon as the door was open. She ran up the front steps to where Mrs. Grainger was sitting, and Steve could see her showing off her new prize.

Tony stepped out with him and leaned against the open door.

"Thank you, so much," Steve said, wracking his brain for a way to pay Tony back for how kind he'd been today.

"You could thank me by going to coffee with me," Tony said lightly, with a wink.

Steve's heart stopped. 

"I'm so sorry." The words felt like they had to be yanked out of his throat and thrown across the small gap between them. "I can't."

"If this is about being your client I -"

Steve shook his head, smiling sadly. "No… it's not that. I'm self-employed. I don't have to obey a gym's rules about that. No…" He glanced back at the steps where Abby was talking to Mrs. Grainger. "She's my everything…"

Tony smiled sadly, his eyes dropping to the sidewalk. "Hey, I get it. You've gotta look out for her first."

"Yeah. And, uh -" Steve turned away and ran his fingers roughly through his hair. "Fuck. I can't believe I'm doing this."

Tony brushed his fingers over Steve's arm. "Steve, it's fine. Things aren't going to be weird between us. I've been let down much less gently than this before." He laughed softly.

This was why he always called him Mr. Stark out loud. Why he couldn't bring himself to give in, even after all the times Tony had asked him to use his first name. Because if Steve said it out loud, breathed Tony's name into the air between them, there would be no mistaking how he felt. But if he didn't explain, Tony would think it was him. This would probably ruin everything they'd built together, but Steve couldn't help but explain.

"No, that's not it. I just… I've been wishing you'd want that for about eight months now, so I can't believe I'm turning you down."

Tony smiled sadly. "You could try, uh, not turning me down?"

"Look…"

But Tony waved a hand. "You don't have to explain, Steve. You're allowed to say no, I was just kidding."

"I like you too much."

"I - that doesn't seem like a problem?"

"When this doesn't work out, I - I'm pretty sure my heart will be pretty messed up for a while. And I - uh - I need to be whole to take care of her properly."

"Wow." Tony blinked. "Okay, I don't know if I should be flattered that you think I could break your heart or offended that you think I would."

Steve shuffled uneasily on the pavement. His voice dropped to barely more than a whisper. "God, I like you so much, I'm not sure it could go any other way." Everything hurt. It was easy when it was just a fantasy, but to have what he wanted offered to him? And he couldn't take it? That was pure agony.

"Really? I was thinking maybe it would be amazing, but if you don't think so…"

"I don't know… I'm sorry. I've wanted this for so long, but I just don't know how I'd cope if -"

Tony held up a hand, cutting him off. "Steve, look, forget coffee. Can we start with friends? Can I take you and Abby for ice cream sometime? And then, if, someday, you want to upgrade to grownups-only coffee, I'm in. but honestly, I like you, like a lot, and I like Abby, and I just want to spend some time with you that isn't me looking up your nose while I try to make it seem like bench pressing a small car isn't making my eyes want to pop out of my head. Like, I kinda just want you to get to see me not sweaty. I clean up real good, that's all I'm saying. But I get that she has to come first, and you're a dad and you can't bring people into your life lightly, so this is my last pitch and then I'll leave you alone. I think it's worth a shot. I'm looking for something real too. You make me feel kinda crazy with possibility." He smiled softly. "I mean, it's not for nothing that I've been trying to get you to call me Tony for almost a year now."

Steve stood in the middle of the sidewalk, staring at this man who managed to be everything he wanted in a way he never would have expected, and he realized that he was wrong. He always thought no one would want him and want Abby too, that she had to come first and who in their right mind would volunteer to come second? But here was Tony, saying he happily would, and Steve was still turning him down? He was hiding, pushing people away, using Abby as a shield because he was scared.

Tony shot him another tight smile then turned to walk away. 

He didn't want to be scared anymore.

"Tony."

Tony stopped and spun, eyes going wide.

Steve swallowed heavily. "Ice cream sounds wonderful."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! You can follow me on tumblr at festiveferret.tumblr.com <3


End file.
